Method of feeding and heating metal plates or packs.



Patented May 6, I902. v T. V. ALLIS.

METHOD OF FEEDING AND HEATING METAL PLATES 0R PACKS.

(Application filed Sept. 23. 1901.)

. (No Model.)

.w..w .w.

@Vm fim 9am i/momn 35 anew 1 U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS V. ALLIS, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

METHOD OF FEEDING AND HEATING METAL PLATES OR PACKS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart Of Letters Patent N0. 699,132, dated May 6, 1902.

Application filed September 23,1901. Serial No. 76,205. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that,I, THOMA.S V. ALLIs, a citizen of ,theUnited States,residin g at B ridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvementin the Method of Feeding and Heating Metal Plates or Packs, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings. v

My. invention consists in an improved method of progressively feeding and heating comparatively thin metal plates or packs of thinner metal plates in transit through a heatingfurnace wherein the heat of said metal is augmented during its passage,- all as hereinafter described and claimed.

That metal plates or packs may be uniformly and properly heated throughout in a progressive heating-furnace preparatory to reduction their time of transit must of necessity be proportionate to their thickness and the temperature of the furnace. In heating packs made up of thin metal plates it is impracticable to raise the heat in the furnace to a high degree for the purpose of hastening the operation of heating, This would cause the plates comprising the packs to become overheated and adhere to each other to the extent that separation after reduction would be impossible. It is also impracticable to heatthin metal plates in a progressive heating-furnace V of high temperatures, for the reason that the edges and corners melt ofi, causing excessive waste, and in case of delay through accidents which interferewith their passage,

' as constructed for heating billets, the hereindescribed invention has been made and so contrived that the delivery portion of the furnace is maintained at the degree of heat required in the plates or packs to be reduced and that their travel therethrough shall be at the speed required for them to arrive at its temperature, wherein they may become mellowed by what is termed a soaking heat, having arrived at this condition by gradual progress through heated chambers.

In heating square billets of ordinary sizes they may be propelled through a progressive heating-furnace of any required length. By reason of their size and shape they are progressed through the furnace in a straight line side byside without any tendency to override. Not so with thin plates or packs built up of thinner plates exceeding in width many times their thickness. The weight of a line of such plates orpacks lying edge to edge and of sufticientllength to be economically heated for reduction would be so great that the force required tomove them along the furnace-bottom would cause overlapping and riding one upon another. Packs composed of thin plates besides overriding become interlaced with one another and the plates bent and distorted in their red-hot softcondition. Having realized by experience the practical difficulties of progressively feeding and heating comparatively thin metal;plates .orvpacks in long lines, I have invented the herein-described improved method of overcoming suchdifficulties and have secured more economical results.

A line or train of the above-described plates or packs should be'about one hundred feet in length, and being impracticable of propulsion in its entirety the train is broken into sections of lengths easy to move over the furnace-bottom without encountering the aforesaid difficulties.

With my improved method of breaking a long line of-packs intofshort sections and moving them stop by-step through comparatively short heating-chambers andcommunicating transverse passages 1I am able to advance a large numberof plates or packs through a heating area of unlimited length, augmenting their heat fromstart to finish and delivering the metal at'the' exit at-the proper temperature for reductionby rolling or hammering.

In carrying out my method of movinga great number of metal packs or plates through a heating area of any length it is immaterial how the furnace is constructed, so long as provision is made whereby a long line of plates or packs is broken up into comparatively short sections, progressively heated as advanced therein in sections and separately in divergent paths. The length of the heating area may be governed by the thickness of the plates or packs to be heated, the temperature of the furnace, and the rapidity with which they are treated after leaving the furnace.

In order that others may understand and practice the method claimed, I will proceed to describe an apparatus with which the methods may be carried out, Figure 1 representing a plan view and horizontal section, and Fig. 2 an elevation at the delivery end of the apparatus.

In the drawings a furnace is shown comprising three integral sections viz. ,1,2,and 3. Each of these sections have the heating-chambers 4, 5, and 6, bounded by the side walls 7 and the roof. (Not shown.)

8 is the floor of the furnace, on which rest the channel-iron 9.

10 represents packs of thin metal plates.

11 and 12 are short offsets integral with the parallel sections 1, 2, and 3, forming transverse passages 12 and 11, leading from one chamber to another.

13, 14, and 15 are pusher-rods for progressing the contents of the chambers, and 16 and 17 are pusher-rods for transferring the packs through the transverse passages.

18 is a transverse passage leading from the last chamber 4 to the reducing-rolls 22 23, and 19 is a pusher-rod for transferring the packs to the rolls.

20 and 21 represent gas heating-fines.

The packs or plates are entered at the end of the first heating-section 3 and by manipulation of the rod 15 are moved along the first chamber and deposited one at a time opposite the transverse passage 12. From thence they are moved singly through said passage 12 by means of rod 17 into the chamber 5, this oporation being repeated through the chamber 5, transverse passage 11, and chamber 4, and to the reducing-rolls 22 23 through the transverse passage 18 by the respective pusherrods 14, 16, 13, and 19, as shown. The gas heating-fines 20 21, it will be understood, are arranged to constantly convey the heat across the furnace in both chambers and passages, thereby progressively augmenting the heat of the metal in transit therethrough.

From the foregoing descriptions and drawings it will readily be seen howa long line or train of metal plates or packs is broken up into short sections which are easily moved by this method through an indefinite length of heating area, thereby giving any required time for requisite heating while in transit.

It is obviously impossible to move an unbroken straightline or train of plates or packs of indefinite length, as is accomplished by the herein-described method.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The method of progressively feeding and heating a train of metal plates or packs for reduction which consists in advancing said train in separate sections, each section containing a plurality of plates or packs, by progressing each section the distance occupied by one plate or pack, and transferringa plate or pack from the forward end of each section to the rear end of the preceding section, and augmenting the degree of heat in said packs or plates during their period of transit, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS V. ALLIS.

WVitnesses:

CHAS. W. FORBES, JOHN H. BLUE. 

